Talking NFL

This week, the NFL Network gave both Patriots fans and Patriots haters a belated Christmas present: they gave permission to NBC and CBS to simulcast Saturday’s broadcast of the Patriots vs Giants game in the Meadowlands. Combine the multiple network options with the Saturday prime time spot and the historical implications of the Patriots quest for an undefeated season, and we could be looking at the highest ratings EVER for a regular season NFL game.

Obviously, this is great news for football fans around the country for the short term. However, this is just another battle in the ongoing war between the NFL Network and cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable. So who comes out ahead after this decision? Depends on who you ask…

According to ESPN’s John Helyar, the NFL Network showed weakness and still has a great deal of work to do with it’s fledgling TV channel:

“…it’s less a gift from the NFL than a punt. As they’ve tried to make the NFL Network into a TV superpower, league officials have repeatedly miscalculated and faltered. As a result, they’ve been unable to budge the major cable operators off their position: that the NFL doesn’t belong on basic cable systems. The cable companies have either marginalized the NFL Network on a premium sports tier (as Comcast has done), or refused to carry it at all (as Time Warner has done).”

However, SI’s Don Banks sees this as a major PR coup for the NFL:

“By giving ground in its two-year-old battle with two of the biggest cable TV companies, the NFL got to play the role of the good guy, swooping in at the last minute to save the day and bestow a historic gift that the football fans of America thought they would be denied. Most fans will forget that the league waited about as long as it could before giving up the NFL Network’s exclusivity with the game. What will linger is a gesture designed to create goodwill for the league and its still-fledgling network.”

Which of course leaves media heavyweight Talking NFL to cast the deciding vote.

Overall, I side with Don Banks - the NFL Network wins a clear vote of thanks from fans everywhere that simply want to sit on the couch, hit the remote, and watch history in the making. In addition, keep in mind that while CBS and NBC are carrying the game, the actual broadcast will be run by the NFL Network. Meaning that you’re going to see the following website name around a thousand times on Saturday:

www.iwantnflnetwork.com.

The site (run by the NFL Network of course) provides a one-click option to send a mass email to government officials that includes the following text:

“Despite the fact that cable is government-regulated, the cable companies have continued to ignore the best interests of consumers by putting their profits first. The best solution is to create an arbitration process that brings both sides to the table and won’t allow big cable companies to discriminate against independent channels and harm consumers along the way.

Please support efforts to create a fast and fair arbitration process. Fans already missed the Packers/Cowboys game on NFL Network and don’t want to miss any more big games.”

Interesting of note is the fact that the email also contacts five members of the FCC, something I mentioned doing before the Cowboys/Packers game, so kudos to them for that.

Having said that, this is still a battle being waged by two sides that best resemble Jacob Marley and Scrooge. They both make billions of dollars a year, and still can’t figure this arrangement out. And make no mistake, the NFL Network is not going away. In fact, they could be televising playoff games in the foreseeable future, and what happens then when the NFL Network is still only available to less than 50 million customers across the country?

To surmise; NFL fans win this weekend, but the long term future of the NFL Network/Big Cable battle remains uncertain.

NFL, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, NFL Network, simulcast, New England Patriots, New York Giants